


Alternate Timeline

by Dabestflash



Category: Sex Education (TV)
Genre: I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:13:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24157180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dabestflash/pseuds/Dabestflash
Summary: Otis doesn't send her a voicemail, but instead just goes to see her.
Relationships: Otis Milburn/Maeve Wiley
Comments: 7
Kudos: 89





	1. Chapter 1

Her caravan is dark and lonely. She sits on her sofa, legs crossed, clutching her pillow to her chest. Tears darkened by her now ruined mascara fall silently. The only sound that fills her caravan is that of her noisy neighbors. She should be celebrating with the Quizheads, but she can't. She can’t be around them right now. She should have taken Issac up on that omelet. He had offered, but she refused wanting to be alone, but now she just wanted someone next to her. She sat on the sofa because it was too painful being in her room. The smell of Erin and Elsie lingered in her bedroom and everytime she went in there the pain overtook her and tears fell from her eyes. The guilt, the look on her mum’s face, so angry and Elsie she looked, so confused it broke her heart. She tried to reassure herself that it was the right thing to do, but it doesn’t help. She had fallen from the top of the world. Now she had no one, no family, and not Otis, she was alone. Otis… that dickhead he had hurt her, so bad and yet her heart fluttered when she thought of him. When she was around him she still got butterflies. The awkward kid had captured her heart no matter how hard she denied it, deep down she knew it was true. She didn’t know if she could forgive him though, what he did it...it crushed her. She was so deep in thought that at first she didn’t hear the knocking at her door. She sighed it was probably Issac she thought. She didn’t trust her voice, so she got up from her spot on her sofa tossing aside her pillow. She wiped her tears away and opened the door. It was the dark haired blue eyed boy that ruled most of her thoughts. He was slightly out of breath, his brown hair damp with sweat.  
“What do you want” Maeve really didn’t feel like Otis’s bullshit today.  
“Can we talk?” Otis looked up at her, he really couldn’t see her face because it was dark, but he could see her clenched jaw  
Anger over took her, and she began closing her door, when he reached out and stopped it.  
“Please I’ll be out of your way in five minutes”  
She stares at him a moment pondering if she wants to clock him in his stupid face or kiss him. Definitely not kiss him. She walks back into her caravan and turns on the light, leaving the door open waiting for him to follow. When she hears the door click closed she turns around to see Otis examining her home.  
“It’s nice”  
“Don’t lie,”She says irritated.  
“I wasn’t ”He says quietly, under his breath. Honestly it wasn’t the best house he’d ever seen obviously, but it was cozy and he didn’t know specifically what, but it reminded him of Maeve, so he loved it. He is nervous; he must have gone over the conversation at least a thousand times in his head, but that didn’t prepare him enough. Maeve glares at him from the other side of the living room. He didn’t realize before, but her makeup is kind of messed up and her eyes are brimming red, it looks like she’s been crying.  
“Are you okay”  
“That’s none of your business”  
It hurts, but he understands he wasn’t there for her before, so he doesn’t get to be there now. He springs into action and sits on her sofa.  
“I didn’t say you could get comfortable” He stands back up. She’s not comfortable, so he doesn’t get to be comfortable.  
“Ok...well I’ll start at the beginning. I started doing the clinic because it was fun and I wanted to hangout with you because you were cool and interesting. We started becoming friends and I started developing feelings for you. That was when Jackson approached me asking if I would help you be his girlfriend.” He was shifting from side to side trying to figure out how to make her understand.  
“Which you did,” She said bitterly.  
“It wasn’t intentional!” He said defensively. He took a deep breath calming himself. “I told him no then he basically stuffed the money in my hand and wouldn’t stop bothering me. I asked him what he liked about you and then he started describing you like an object, so I corrected him and started telling him stuff about you. Then he used that to get you. I didn’t mean to, I would never betray your trust for intentionally”.  
She just stared at him, her face neutral, so he continued.  
“Then I apologized to you and we were friends again. I tried to get over my feelings for you and I started dating Ola because she was funny and interesting and I did like her, but most of all I dated her because she took interest in me. I never would have thought that you would have feelings for me too. ”  
“Why not?” Her tone defensive and her jaw clenched.  
“Because I’m Otis, I’m not attractive and I’m not interesting and you're Maeve, the coolest girl in school. And why would Maeve Wiley like me?”  
Otis isn’t fair to himself. He may not be cool, but he was sweet and nice and he was there for her when she needed him. _Usually_  
She was silent, so he continued.  
“Then you told me you liked me too. Which was the only thing I wanted to hear, but I didn’t think it would be right to just dump Ola. That’s what my dad did to my mum and...my worst fear is being like him, so I lied and told you that I was over you. Then you sent me that text apologizing right when me and Ola were about to...” He blushes and she has a good guess of what they were about to do.”She saw the text then got angry and made me choose between the two of you.”  
“And you chose her” Her voice was flat, but her expression was hurt, then she steeled herself and her expression was neutral.  
“What was I supposed to do? She was my girlfriend-”  
“And I was your friend” She’s practically yelling now. Then her tone takes a vulnerable edge which is unexpected and completely disarms him.”I was your friend.... How could you just stop”  
“I’m sorry...I’m so sorry.”  
She has her shields up again and she just stares at him waiting for him to continue.  
He clears his throat. “Then the party came and I got drunk and said things I didn’t mean, did things I didn’t mean.”  
“Then why’d you do it.”  
“I was hurting and the alcohol numbed the pain a bit. I thought I’d made the right choice choosing Ola over you, but then I realize I didn’t. Then I saw you with your boyfriend and I saw how happy you were and how easily you replaced me, so I thought you were just messing with my feelings and I… I just wanted to hurt you.”  
“Issac’s not my boyfriend.” _And no one could ever replace you._ She looks at him and she wants, so badly to ask the question that’s been on her mind. So she just blurts it out.  
“Why’d you shag Ruby.”  
He looks down in shame.  
“I was hurting and she was there. I don’t remember it much, but I just needed someone and she was there.”  
She looked at him with gentle eyes. Now she understands his perspective, at least.  
“Well, I am way over my five minutes.” He begins walking toward her door.”I am really really sorry, for everything. I hope that you’ll forgive me and that one day we can be friends or...”  
_Or What Otis. Or What._ Her heart is beating fast.  
“Nevermind you probably don’t feel that way anymore” He mutters under his breath. “From now on if you need me I’m here, I promise.” He says it in that Otis-y way that tells her he really means it.  
He opens the door and is on his way out when she speaks.  
“I called Social Services on my mum today.”  
He slowly walks back into her caravan. He sees that she is vulnerable, so he chooses his next word carefully.“Are you okay?”  
“That’s your question, not why or what’d she do.”  
_Shit. Shit. He said the wrong thing._ “I assume that you did it for a good reason.”  
She chuckles a bit, that is such a Otis answer.  
“She was using again.”  
“Well then you did the right thing, Elsie could have been hurt or something. You just gave Elsie a chance you know. That’s pretty brave.”  
She shook her head. “I was being a coward.”  
He moved closer, so that he was standing right in front of her. He used his index finger and lifted her chin, until she was looking straight into his eyes.“I know that’s not true, you're the strongest person I’ve ever met” He says softly just above a whisper, just loud enough for her to hear. She knows it was the right thing. She knows it was brave, but for some reason when it came out of his mouth she believed it. There is this tension between them she feels it and is pretty sure he can feel it too, it's the same tension from the bridge that night. He realizes how close he is and quickly steps back a few feet.  
“I don’t know if I can forgive you...” He looks sad, but nods understandingly. “But I really don’t wanna be alone right now, can you stay the night… I just...I really don’t want to be alone right now.”  
He hesitates for a moment, then nods. “Whatever you need I’m here.”  
She walks to her room while he stays standing there. He pulls out his phone and texts his mum telling her that he’s staying at Maeve’s. She texts him back almost immediately telling him to make sure he uses protection. He chuckles a bit, but stops when he hears a quiet sob. He follows the sound until he reaches what he assumes is her room. She’s sitting on the bed, tears falling, with one of Elsie’s toys in her hand. He walks over to her cautious and sits down next to her when she lets the toy drop to the floor and hugs him. It takes him a moment, but then he hugs her back, gently. Just like that day. She breathes him in and his smell consumes her and she feels… safe. Just hugging, him being this close to him, feeling his chest rise and fall, it feels like everythings going to be ok. A while later when her breath has been normal for a while, and he’s sure she’s asleep, he unwraps his arms from her. He lays her down and tucks her into her bed, he turns off her lamp, he almost trips over Elsie’s toy, so he picks it up and puts it on the nightstand. He then exits her room and goes to the living room. He turns off her lights and sits down on her sofa to take off his shoes. He lays down his hands gently folded and resting on his stomach and goes to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 Its kinda like the morning after the chapter their just talking basically I know where I wanna go for chapter 3, but I'm not sure how long it'll take and I didn't edit and revise this so sorry if my grammar is f***** up, so yeah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack... maybe.

Maeve awakens with a start, her eyelids feel like sandpaper and she feels as if she had been transported to Antarctica wearing only her undergarments. She looks around the room for Otis, but he’s nowhere to be seen. _Of course how could she have been so stupid to think that he would actually fucking stay. She probably scared him off with the whole breaking down infront of him over a fucking toy. Way to go Wiley._ She thinks looking at Elsie’s toy on the nightstand. She shuts her eyes and pulls the cover back over her head, trying her best to will all the nasty thoughts that flooded her head away. That’s when her nose is flooded with the smell of sweet, juicy bacon. With a furrowed brow and confused eyes, she slowly made her way to the kitchen. When she rounded the wall cautiously, she saw Otis putting on his jacket. He doesn’t notice her until he turns around and he jumps in surprise.

“Maeve” He squeals  
Regaining his composure he clears his throat “Hey Maeve your, your awake”  
She nods ”What are you doing”  
He rubs his hands along his pockets nervously “Well I woke up a couple of hours ago, and I needed a shower and I didn’t want to overstep or anything, so I left. I went home, I showered, then I thought about how sad you looked yesterday and ya know whenever I’m sad, pancakes always cheer me up, so I stopped by the store, picked a few things up and came back and cooked you breakfast” He rambles gesturing to the table.  
She looked over and there was a plate that contained picture perfect chocolate chip pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausages, and potatoes with a bowl of fruit on the side. He even cleaned her kitchen. It's practically sparkling and it looks cleaner there than it has in a decade.

He coughs ”I didn’t really know what you liked, so I kinda made a little of everything”  
Her stomach growls and he chuckles a little to break the awkward silence. She turns back to him and glares at him making him squirm then “thank you” she says. She walks over to the table and takes a seat, he hesitantly follows her and sits down as she digs in. These are some of the best pancakes she’s ever had, the chocolate is very melty and the pancakes are nice and fluffy. She can feel his nervous eyes watching her.

“ Are you okay”?  
She stops eating and looks at him.  
“It's just… I’ve never seen you cry before, so I just want to make sure you're okay”.  
“I’m fine… I just was going through stuff”  
“Yeah, yeah okay, well I’m sorry that I contributed to that stuff”  
“Thanks… again, so how did you sleep?” She says in an attempt to change the subject.  
“Good, good, yeah… erm the sofa is more comfortable than it looks” he says with a small smile.  
“You slept on the couch”? She says with a confused tone.  
“Yeah, yeah of course where else would I sleep”  
“Uh, yeah, right right, yeah no of course you slept on the couch”

She leans back in the chair, she’s managed to finish most of Otis’s breakfast and she wants to keep eating, but she physically can’t anymore.

“Right, well I should get going, but thank you for opening up to me and everything”.  
He stands up and he can’t help, but laugh.  
“What are you laughing at, dickhead” She looks and tries to sit up, but physically can’t.  
“I’m sorry, but you just look… so beautiful”.  
She avoids his gaze as her cheeks flush bright pink.  
He chuckles and makes his way towards the door.  
Her chest is warm with that fuzzy feeling that he always gives her and before her fears can talk her out of it “Hey Otis”  
“Yeah” He says, cocking his head to the side like a cute puppy.  
“Would you wanna hang out later”.  
“Um, yeah sure, of course, swing by around 7” He says with a blinding smile and his bright pool blue eyes that she loves to swim in focused on her.  
“Yeah” She says a small smile playing on her lips.  
He exits a happy man.  
Maeve hauls herself from her chair and on the way to shower passes her mirror. She saw her messy bed hair sticking up around her like the mane of a lion, chocolate smudges all over her face, and messy makeup, ruined from all that crying last night. She looked like a bloody mad lad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey sorry for taking forever to put a chapter out, my teahcers have gone absolutley mad and decide to give me at least 50 pgs of homework a week, and I'm working on a company so sorry I've been busy okay.


End file.
